Pre-smoke Detector and System for Use in Early Detection of Developing Fires
First Claim
1. A pre-smoke detector for early detection of a fire or potential fire, comprising:
- a substrate including an array of microcantilevers, each microcantilever having a surface coating that adsorbs one or more of types of vaporized pyrolysis products resulting from thermal decomposition of fibers and/or wiring insulation materials, the vaporized pyrolysis products being of a different chemical composition than that of the pre-decomposed fibers and/or wiring insulation materials;
an electronic circuit including one or more devices that cooperate with the microcantilevers and are configured to detect and/or analyze the adsorbed vaporized pyrolysis products; and
an alarm that is configured to activate if the adsorbed vaporized pyrolysis products are detected and/or meet or exceed a pre-determined threshold amount.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A pre-smoke detector and system for use in the early detection of developing fires whereby vapors of marker chemicals generated during the melting and/or smoldering of common household materials are detected before detection by conventional smoke detectors. Vapors resulting from the heating and resultant vaporization of substances are detected as well as vapors resulting from their breakdown, decomposition, or pyrolysis during the pre-combustion stage. Conventional smoke detectors focus on particle detection and are most effective after a developing fire has produced smoke. To minimize false alarms caused by common household odors, the pre-smoke detectors focus on detecting medium temperature pyrolysis products using sensor coatings that can be consistent with a 10 year operational lifetime and multiple orthogonal detection processes. Since virtually all marker chemicals of interest for pre-smoke detection are heavier than air, a system is described that appropriately integrates with smoke detector alarm systems present in most homes.
-
Citations
31 Claims
-
1. A pre-smoke detector for early detection of a fire or potential fire, comprising:
-
a substrate including an array of microcantilevers, each microcantilever having a surface coating that adsorbs one or more of types of vaporized pyrolysis products resulting from thermal decomposition of fibers and/or wiring insulation materials, the vaporized pyrolysis products being of a different chemical composition than that of the pre-decomposed fibers and/or wiring insulation materials; an electronic circuit including one or more devices that cooperate with the microcantilevers and are configured to detect and/or analyze the adsorbed vaporized pyrolysis products; and an alarm that is configured to activate if the adsorbed vaporized pyrolysis products are detected and/or meet or exceed a pre-determined threshold amount. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A system for early detection of a fire or potential fire, comprising:
-
a pre-smoke detector comprising; a substrate including an array of microcantilevers, each microcantilever having a surface coating that adsorbs one or more of types of vaporized pyrolysis products resulting from thermal decomposition of fibers and/or wiring insulation materials, the vaporized pyrolysis products being of a different chemical composition than that of the pre-decomposed fibers and/or wiring insulation materials; an electronic circuit including one or more devices that cooperate with the microcantilevers and are configured to detect and/or analyze the adsorbed vaporized pyrolysis products; and an alarm that is configured to activate if the adsorbed vaporized pyrolysis products are detected and/or meet or exceed a pre-determined threshold amount, and wherein the pre-smoke detector does not detect smoke particles; and a smoke detector that detects smoke particles and includes an alarm that is activated if smoke particles are detected and/or meet or exceed a pre-determined threshold amount, wherein the pre-smoke detector and smoke detector are in communication with one another so that when one alarm is signaled the other is signaled. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. A method for early detection of a fire or potential fire, comprising:
-
adsorbing one or more of types of vaporized pyrolysis products on a surface coating of one or more microcantilevers, the vaporized pyrolysis products resulting from thermal decomposition of fibers and/or wiring insulation materials and being of a different chemical composition than that of the pre-decomposed fibers and/or wiring insulation materials; detecting and/or analyzing the adsorbed vaporized pyrolysis products; and activating an alarm if the vaporized pyrolysis products are detected and/or meet or exceed a pre-determined threshold amount. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. A method for early detection of a fire or potential fire, comprising:
using a pre-smoke detector to detect one or more types of vaporized pyrolysis products resulting from thermal decomposition of fibers and/or wiring insulation materials, the pre-smoke detector comprising; a substrate including an array of microcantilevers, each microcantilever having a surface coating that adsorbs one or more of types of vaporized pyrolysis products resulting from thermal decomposition of fibers and/or wiring insulation materials, the vaporized pyrolysis products being of a different chemical composition than that of the pre-decomposed fibers and/or wiring insulation materials; an electronic circuit including one or more devices that cooperate with the microcantilevers and are configured to detect and/or analyze the adsorbed vaporized pyrolysis products; and an alarm that is configured to activate if the adsorbed vaporized pyrolysis products are detected and/or meet or exceed a pre-determined threshold amount, and wherein the pre-smoke detector does not detect smoke particles.
Specification